The tremendous demand for accounting graduates has put a strain on many colleges and universities. Accounting departments and colleges of business administration are aggressively recruiting faculty to meet this demand on both the undergraduate and graduate levels. CPAs are sought for these positions where the required academic credentials can also be met. Universities are establishing schools of professional accountancy, and the American Institute of CPAs is recommending a program of 150 hours of college education in order to take the CPA examination. In addition to the AICPA, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, the American Accounting Association, and the Federation of Schools of Accountancy have all endorsed the proposition of requiring 150 hours to qualify for the CPA examination. These organizations hold that with the explosion of knowledge, a person entering the profession needs more accounting studies. Currently, eleven states have passed legislation requiring 150 hours of higher education for certification.
It is common for accounting educators to begin their careers as instructors. With the required advanced experience and education, they expect eventually to be promoted to professor. Teaching skills are certainly a key prerequisite to success in this field. In addition, writing and research are expected of faculty members and are important considerations in promotions and salary increases. Participation in professional activities in accounting education organizations, the AICPA, and the state CPA societies are also viewed highly. Community involvement in public service projects is also encouraged. Accounting educators receive experience in the world of public accounting through faculty internships, working directly on the staff of a CPA firm, or through conducting research on subjects involving public accounting or management ac-counting.
CHARACTERISTICS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR TEACHERS
Although students seldom make decisions to teach accounting until after they receive a baccalaureate degree with an accounting major, they should be aware of the opportunities in this area. Of course not everyone is cut out to be a teacher, but those having an interest in teaching should not pass over too quickly the possibilities it offers. It presents many advantages associations, surroundings, prestige, and the gratification that can come only from helping others develop their potential. Decisions to teach are usually based on a combination of factors, including high scholastic attainment during college, a liking for research and study, encouragement from professors to work for a Ph.D., an increasing awareness of the breadth of accounting and the many unsolved problems facing the profession, an inborn desire to help others, an aptitude for teaching, and a desire to work in a collegiate atmosphere.
Not all decisions to teach are made while students are attending college. Sometimes they are made after students have been in the business field for several years. During that period, perhaps, they taught in evening schools or in industry programs that provided the impetus to enter the teaching profession. Of course, business experience is helpful, and time in the business field will not be wasted. On the other hand, coming to a decision after several years in the business world generally means that individuals will have to give up good-paying positions to return to school, and because of this, many potentially good teachers unfortunately decide against making the immediate sacrifice to satisfy long-range desires. As indicated, business experience for accounting teachers is very desirable, but those who decide on a teaching career while in school can obtain such experience during summer vacations and at other times without monetary sacrifice.
In college teaching, education below the Ph.D. level is a limiting factor, and for a teacher of accounting, both a Ph.D. and a CPA certificate are desirable. A master's degree is usually the minimum requirement for appointment to the rank of assistant professor or associate professor, and a terminal degree (Ph.D. or equivalent) is required for a full professorship. Although many colleges of business administration now consider a master's degree plus the CPA certificate as equivalent to a terminal degree, the number is decreasing. Therefore, a doctorate should be the goal for those planning a teaching career.
FINANCING AN EDUCATION
Financing an education is usually a factor in preparing for a teaching career. However, high scholastic attainment in undergraduate work generally opens the doors to scholarship aid at the master's-degree level, and for those planning a teaching career even more aid is available for doctoral candidates. Furthermore, many doing graduate work are able to obtain part-time positions as laboratory assistants and instructors to help defray the cost of their advanced education.
Scholarship help is offered by business organizations and public ac-counting firms. The American Accounting Association also has a fellowship program in accountancy which has for its purpose "to increase the supply of qualified teachers of accountancy." Fellowships are awarded under this program to assist individuals in furthering their preparation, through doctoral studies, for teaching in colleges and universities. Special government loans are also available to those who plan to teach.
TEACHING WORK LOADS
Fixed hours of work for teachers are usually considerably less than for their counterparts in the business field. In large schools of business administration, teachers are generally required to conduct classes from nine to twelve hours a week. Class preparation time requires about twice that many hours unless, of course, the teacher has more than one class in the same subject. There is considerable flexibility in a teacher's schedule; classes may be arranged for mornings, afternoons, or evenings, and class preparation can be done at convenient times. Because of this latitude in scheduling, a number of accounting teachers conduct small public accounting practices or have other business interests that not only supplement their incomes but bring them face to face with practical business problems.
Do not assume that teachers have an easy job. They don't. To advance in rank they are expected to do research and publish the results, to serve on departmental committees, and to keep current with accounting literature and changes taking place in both the accounting and teaching professions.
In addition to moving up through the ranks from instructor to assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor, there are opportunities for a teacher with administrative ability to become department chairperson, assistant dean, and dean. Some go even further.
Considerable prestige has always been attached to positions on college faculties, but this increased even more after former President John F. Kennedy appointed a number of educators to important posts in the federal government. Business organizations during the past few years have been employing many more educators than previously and also engaging the services of faculty members to conduct special research projects.
Those interested in foreign services will find numerous opportunities for permanent assignments in foreign lands and also for some special assignments of less than a year's duration. With the rapid expansion of international trade, such opportunities should expand.
